A Villainess Should Be Strong

A ray of light brighter than the Eterna itself illuminated Estelle's body, making her shine from inside out.

Her magic was ready, and Estelle felt her soul count stagger. It was beginning to rise. Estelle's heartbeat jumped. This was it.

The moment she had been waiting for. The time she had spent, it was all worth it. The sense of euphoria and completion Estelle felt during this last few moments in Eterna exhilarated her.

"Goodbye," Estelle said, imparting the being with a final smile. Her eyes were somewhat clouded as her soul finally filled up to the brink.

She took one last deep breath in the Eterna. Before she disappeared from the realm.

"Goodbye.." The Ruler, who was left behind in Eterna, belatedly mumbled.

Estelle was now back in the Surface, and the Ruler was once again alone. The pure white realm was somehow more suffocating than it ever was. Perhaps it was because a living being had stepped inside since forever.

Though, just like the first person who entered, the girl left. Because they had different fates, came from different realms, and had separate duties.

The being sighed. "She.. really is that child. The Creator's Creation,"

The Ruler glimpsed over where Estelle last stood, still faintly feeling her Creation Magic in the vicinity.

"I can somewhat understand why the Creator is willing to go to such great lengths just to preserve her remnants..." The Ruler contemplated.

From the very beginning, it had already discovered Estelle's true identity. Not her life as Estelle Clareste, but her very own soul's backstory.

She was the first creation ever made by the Creator. The long lost Goddess of Creation.

Her name was Estraea.

To be exact, Estraea's soul was older than itself. The Ruler and the Eterna were once beings that didn't exist in the first universe's creation.

As a mean to balance the overlapping universe, the Eterna was created. The realm for eternal slumber, the place where those who lost their existence were laid to rest.

Within the vast lands of Eterna, the Ruler was created to govern over it.

Compared to itself, Estraea was an infamous creature. Those who had met her said that her beauty was phenomenal, her powers strong enough to vaporize large oceans and destroy mountainous ranges in one snap, and her benevolent grace was overflowing with each action she took.

The First Goddess bearing the power of Creation Magic.

"I suppose it is fated. Her soul wouldn't have lasted for long if she didn't obtain the Constellation's power in time," The Ruler lamented.

The Constellation was not a concept that was created. It was a concept brought by the Sage, who was well aware of his duties and plans to unite the world.

Unlike Estelle, the Sage knew what to do. He garnered enough power to become the Constellation's leader, then went ahead and nurtured his strength by recruiting the right members of the group.

It was because the Sage was also an anomaly. To the Ruler, everything was obvious, even more so when they entered Eterna's influence.

"..I'm counting this as a favor," The Ruler said. The words were directed at the Creator himself.

The first living consciousness to appear. The one who built the multiple realms inside the wide universe and granted life to everything.

The Creator of All, namely The Absolute.

"Maybe I should get a physical body sometimes,"

The Ruler said, before slowly disappearing back into nothingness to do its duties.

_____

"Miss, when will you wake up...?" A familiar voice entered Estelle's ears.

Due to her eyes getting temporarily blinded after being exposed to light for the first time in a while, Estelle was only able to see faint outlines of the person that said those words.

A woman with braided hair wearing maid clothing. Her eyes were shaking as she took out a wet cloth from the basin filled by water. She twisted the cloth, draining it from the excess water.

Due to her attention being taken by her chores, the maid did not notice that Estelle's eyes were now starting to open, albeit slowly.

"..Lydia," Estelle recognized the woman and called out her name.

She was her personal maid, Lydia.

Her thoughts began to clear up after the hectic trip in Eterna. All the emotions came rushing in.

If Lydia was here, that would mean that she was finally back to her home.

Her home. Right, she belonged to the Surface.

Even so, she couldn't shrug off the puffy feelings that resided inside her heart. She had grown to be quite attached to the Eterna. Estelle herself was surprised at how close she felt with the realm.

It made her tired, but also relaxed. She was able to focus on nothing but herself.

No distractions and dilemmas that took her attention away from bonding with her own being. She felt complete in there, which led her to miss the peaceful surroundings as compared to the current one she was in.

Estelle was back in her room. The room was peaceful, but the presence of living beings can be clearly felt.

Lydia's speech and actions, small animals living all around, the sounds of chirping birds, and all that.

It brought her attention back to the world. That she could no longer be in solitary peace with herself, that she had to go back in action. So that she wouldn't get left behind in the continuous turning of the world.

"Miss..? Miss! Oh Lord, you are awake!" Hearing her name being called, Lydia exclaimed, shocked at Estelle's awakening.

Estelle felt lethargic as a result of being distant from her body for over a month. She had not moved except for some passive actions helped by her people, so her body was left feeling an underlying ache all over.

Beginning with an arm stretch, she was helped by Lydia to regain mobility from her entire body. Supported by her regenerative magic and light exercise, Estelle was finally able to merge back with herself.

"Lydia, could you fetch me an empty glass?" Estelle felt thirsty. Beside that, she also wanted to test something out. The gift she brought home from Eterna, she was curious to see how it would work out.

"An empty glass, miss? No contents?" Lydia tilted her head, a bit confused.

Estelle nodded, confirming the maid's questioning. She wished to see if she could replicate the deeds she manage to perform in Eterna.

If she wasn't wrong,

There was also the matter of the Ruler's gift. The being gave her information, very valuable information. She hadn't explored much yet, but it was stored inside her mind in the form of a ball of knowledge.

Along with it, the Ruler had told her that there would also be a special gift. A gift that would open her seals with the right trigger.

The being said that although it could help her solve this problem, it had to only provide little assistance. Or else, her 'world karma' would detect an imbalance and a misfortune would fall upon her.

A misfortune equivalent to the benefits she would receive upon opening the seals. Estelle couldn't even bring herself to imagine how scary that would be.

She had the authority and freedom to open it, but she didn't wish to do so inside the Eterna. It was because she would certainly slip into deep focus, which in turn required her to stay there longer.

She wished to go over the data in detail while simultaneously connecting back with the Surface to save time for herself.

Estelle was able to multitask at an expert level, so she was prepared to do her duties while surveying the information.

First, she wanted to test her new variant of the Creation Magic.

From the sidelines, Lydia was concerned by how spaced out Estelle looked. The young miss had fallen into a coma and couldn't wake up for over a month, and yet she was back here now.

Without any notifications, Estelle was up and moving again, which surprised her.

She considered whether or not she should leave the young miss to call and notify the others. Especially the miss' parents, who loved and treated her dearly.

Because the young miss had just woken up, Lydia did not want to disturb her thoughts too much in fear of worsening her condition. She decided to follow the miss' orders of getting an empty cup before anything, and not do additional inputs.

Lydia was one of the very few people who knew just to what extent Estelle's powers reached. As such, she knew that the young miss was definitely alright if she didn't say otherwise. Lydia was confident in Estelle's powers.

After all, that same power saved her and many others multiple times.

Lydia excused herself before leaving to get the empty glass like she was instructed.

After receiving Estelle's pardon, Lydia got out of the room.

Estelle was left inside the room, wondering what to do first.

"Let me see..." Taking in a breath of sharp air, she began to unravel the gifts the Ruler gave to her.